Reneé Rapp Worried About Playing Gay on 'Sex Lives of College Girls'
Today, actress and singer Reneé Rapp is out and proud, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t faced anxieties about her queerness.
In an interview with People magazine, Rapp, the queer 22-year-old star of HBO's The Sex Lives of College Girls revealed that when the first season of the show came out, she was very anxious about playing a queer character in the show.
“When the first season came out, I had different people in my life,” she told People. “I was really afraid for the show to come out because I felt very judged, and I didn’t feel comfortable.”
She said that “luckily” most of those people are no longer in her life. “I actually was very excited for the second season to come out,” she said, “because I felt much more comfortable to not be terrified to hear something either homophobic or slut-shaming, or things like that.”
On the show, Rapp plays spoiled rich girl Leighton, who in season two has come out to two of her roommates and her father, and starts to openly date girls. Rapp feels a deep connection to the character and her journey, but also says her own journey has been different from her fictional one.
“I don’t think I ever really dealt with those emotions as outwardly as Leighton did,” Rapp said. “I kind of just let sh*t go, in a bad way.”
At the end of season two, Leighton has left her sorority, broken up with her girlfriend, and is ready for some changes. Rapp has hopes for directions those changes go in.
“I want her to find someone who is really, really, really good for her. And I want her and [her roommate] Whitney to become best, best, best friends.”
Next up, Rapp is starring in Parmount+’s upcoming movie adaptation of the Mean Girls Broadway musical. She’s returning to the role of Regina George, which she played on Broadway. The movie also stars Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, Jaquel Spivey as Damien, and Auli’i Cravalho as Janis Ian.
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